But the more Nash thought about it, the more he knew TNA was a better situation for him. Less travel. Less in-ring wear and tear. And more friends. So he re-signed with TNA for a one-year term, with two one-year options.

"Vince wanted me to do the Diesel thing," says Nash, who bashed Samoa Joe with a bat, costing him the heavyweight title against Sting at TNA's Bound for Glory pay-per-view. "And I was OK with that, basically to start and end my career as Diesel. When we sat down and talked, Vince got to the point where he wanted me to colour my hair dark. I went to my hair lady and she said with my hair, that's all I'd be doing is dying my hair.

"When it came time to make the decision, I sat down with my wife and she said: 'Shawn (Michaels) and Hunter (Triple H) are up there. But Hunter's married with kids. And Shawn's not going to be there much longer. You don't know any of those guys.'

"Undertaker's one guy that was a buddy and I hung out with (Randy) Orton a bit, but all my buddies are (in TNA).

"All I wanted was one more Wrestlemania, but my wife said: 'You were there for five Wrestlemanias and you were miserable.'

"It was a difficult decision because it is WWE, but I have a good relationship with Dixie Carter. She's a friend. I know I made the right decision. I'd like to help build this into a No. 2, if not No. 1 company."

Nash recently spiced up his tattoos.

"With my old tattoos, people would say: 'What's that on your forearm?' And I'd be like: 'It used to be a samarai.

"I went to a tattoo artist, Chris Mack, from East Coast Tattoos (in Port Orange, Fla.). I dug his work and I had some time off."

Nash wanted a dragon, and since his last TV appearance, green and blue have been added to the work of art.

WHAT YOU THINK

What should Kevin Nash have done?
Gone to WWE as Diesel - 25%
Stay in TNA, like he has - 36%
Retired altogether - 39%

"I guess it's almost like me saying that I'm still crazy after all these years," said Nash. "I've been looking at some old pictures of me and it seems like I've had almost 100 looks since I started wrestling."

At age 49, Nash is one of the elders in the TNA locker room. And as such, he says he tries to watch out for the younger generation.

"The style a lot of these guys work does not give them longevity," says Nash. "I ask them: 'Do you have a home? Or are you renting? And if you are, get out of that, buy a home.

"When I was making big money working for (Ted) Turner in WCW, I thought the money was never going to end. And I didn't live above my means, but if I'd downgraded my lifestyle even 10% ...

"The guys have to realize that this could stop at any time."

Nash says he's feeling good, at least once he gets his day going.

"I've dropped about 20 lbs, getting that weight off has been good for my knee. In 1999, I had a cracked bone in my ankle, a compound fracture. And now, for the first 30 minutes of every day, it's like I have somebody (else's) foot on.

"Then I sit in the steam shower for about 20 minutes, go to the gym and get the sweat going and I feel pretty good.

"I don't take pain medicine. I think about painkillers. Some of the guys (who have died) were taking painkillers and muscle relaxers. Some of those painkillers were so strong, they might as well have been doing heroin."

Nash is hoping to keep his career going.

"When things go good, this is still such a rush," he says. "Kurt (Angle) and Christian Cage are real passionate about wrestling and being around guys like that ... they're so into it ... all of a sudden, your juices start to flow again."